Making The Right Sized Bets

In No Limit Hold’em one of the most important things to get right on a consistent basis is the ability to bet the right amount.

Of course, those assessing the best casinos online note how every decision will depend on the scenario, but when it comes to making the right sized bet there are ways of making sure you’re getting it right more often than wrong. Right sized bets will maximise your winnings and minimise your losses; the key to successful poker.

Pot size is the first thing to bear in mind. You’ll need to understand pot odds fairly well to be able to correctly make the right bet (so if you don’t know about pot odds, learn about them before worrying about making the right sized bets). You must be constantly thinking about whether you are giving your opponent the right odds to make the call, whether you want your opponent to make the call, or whether you want a fold. For example, if you are giving your opponent pot odds of 5:1 to call to see a turn when it is clear they are chasing a flush, then you haven’t made the right sized bet.

Typically the pre-flop raise is 3-4 times the big blind, but of course you can adapt this amount to the conditions e.g. playing against an ultra-aggressive player with a history of calling pretty much any pre-flop raise might require a much larger raise to increase winning potential. The more mistakes you can force your opponents to make, the more money you will make in the long run.

If you are ever unsure of the exact amount to bet, always go bigger than smaller. Inexperienced players who don’t quite understand bet sizes tend to be too conservative;

Make sure you can back up every bet you make with a reason for it. Try to question yourself; why am I betting this much/this little? Do I want a call, or do I want to push this opponent off this hand?